So I bought a decent BCM upper during the 4 seconds that they were back in stock and I'm wondering If I should be kicking myself for not spending the extra money on the lightweight CHF version. The one I got is CMV. Is CHF really that much better? Should I be losing sleep or planning on buying a CHF barrel for it down the road? I really just plan on shooting this thing at the range but I'd like to know it will last a long time and function well.

No it's not that much better. Quit losing sleep and go shoot it. With either barrel it'll be a long time before you wear it out.

It would take more than $3K in ammo... at todays prices $10K in ammo, for you to wear out that barrel... the cost of the barrel is tiny in comparison.

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Firing continued for the Wolf and Brown Bear carbines after their barrels had been shot out in order to collect other data and finish the test. However, Tula firing was halted at 6,000 rounds from the backup Spike’s Tactical midlength.

The data from this weapon cannot be directly compared to the others, due to differences in construction (the barrel had a midlength gas port, was manufactured via the hammer forging process, and featured “extra thick” chrome lining) and methodology (it was fired with only reliability testing in mind and saw even higher rates of fire as well as environmental abuse such as mud, water, and dirt testing). Still, general conclusions can be drawn, even if direct comparisons cannot.

The barrel of the Spike’s Tactical midlength shot acceptable groups at 4,000 and 5,000 rounds, after it saw seventeen magazines of 30 rounds dumped through it several times, but by 6,000 rounds, it too was keyholing. The changes in barrel construction did not appear to offer a massive advantage in terms of barrel life, while changes in ammo – to copper jackets only – did. Performance indicators for the Federal barrel show that it would likely have remained serviceable for at least another three to five thousand rounds when it was sectioned after 10,000.

An important factor to consider is that in the real world, barrels are wear items. They will eventually become unserviceable if shot enough. If you plan on shooting a lot, don’t get too attached to your barrel – think of it as a thing that does a job for a certain period of time at a certain cost. When that time is up, change the barrel. The AR-15 is a modular platform, and barrel changes are quite simple.

I bought an older DD upper for my wife and was worried that I wasn't getting the best since the barrel is not CHF, but it shoots about an inch at 100 yards with my match handloads and since we can only shoot 10 rounds at a time, I don't think there is any way I would notice the difference.

I bought an older DD upper for my wife and was worried that I wasn't getting the best since the barrel is not CHF, but it shoots about an inch at 100 yards with my match handloads and since we can only shoot 10 rounds at a time, I don't think there is any way I would notice the difference.

My DD CHF barrel shoots about 1.2" with 77g SMK, ammo that shoots 1/4" out of a BCM SAMR barrel. Apparently the CHF either has no affect on accuracy or it actually somewhat degrades it.

The OP is worried about bragging rights. What if someone at the range has a CHF barrel? He would get laughed off the firing line.

He would have to surrender his rifle to the mercy of Internet scrutiny. Kind of like the guy that built a comparable AR to the Jack and some internet commando kept harping on him for being cost conscious.

My DD CHF barrel shoots about 1.2" with 77g SMK, ammo that shoots 1/4" out of a BCM SAMR barrel. Apparently the CHF either has no affect on accuracy or it actually somewhat degrades it.

ha, in the DD I get about an inch with the 69gr Sierra Match Kings and Varget, the 77gr Match Kings were closer to 2", I was surprised. (this was with an aimpoint pro) I hope they shoot better in my match rifle cause I loaded up 500 of them.